De groepsleider als evenwichtskunstenaar : Het dagelijks werk op de leefgroep in een justitiële jeugdinrichting

For over a hundred years Dutch secure facilities for child protection have tried to improve the outcomes for children in their care. Treatment programmes based on various pedagogical insights and psychological and psychiatric analyses of behaviour have been created and have developed in line with new discourses on humane and effective treatment. In spite of all these efforts, the treatment of youngsters in these institutions remains very difficult. The hypothesis is that the context of a closed and secured institution hinders the effectiveness of evidence-based treatment programmes. The exploration of this question starts with a review of the literature on the problem of treatment and institutional order in Dutch juvenile institutions over the past century. Time and again the problems of aggression, excessive repression, sexual abuse, poor safety for youth and staff reappear. However these problems are solely defined as dispositional mental health issue of the youngsters. They are not regarded as being a consequence of maintaining institutional order. In contrast, the problem of order in adult prisons has been studied extensively, where less emphasis is placed on education and treatment. Adaptation to life inside has generated the concept of ‘pains of imprisonment’. As a consequence, the management of order in prison is a topic in its own right. Part of the secret of maintaining order lies in a complex sociological process of social interaction between staff and prisoners. In a series of essays on human behaviour in public places Goffman has analysed interaction patterns and rituals. Here, his insights are used as a theoretical framework to study social interaction. Following the line of argument of symbolic interactionism his framework offers a perspective on the way order is negotiated in closed institutions. Hence the empirical part of this study examines how order is established and maintained within the physical limitations of a secure juvenile institution and as a result of the interaction between staff and youngsters. This study uses ethnographic inquiry as a research design. The empirical research presents the structure of daily routine on the wards. In practice, strict enforcement of rules and regulations alternates with negotiations and that is where these interactions gain their significance. Negotiations repeat themselves in different social situations. Putting one’s argument in a proper way, showing the appropriate deference, guarding against loss of face and strategically putting forward claims and requests is used both by staff and youngsters to achieve their intended goals. In the course of these interactions mistakes are made, reputations are damaged and authority is contested. This study concludes with a reflection on the question raised at the beginning: the limited success of behavioural interventions may be due to the context in which they are given. The problem of order is as real for juvenile secure accommodation as it is for prisons. In spite of the mental health perspective they employ, keeping order dominates daily routine. This pattern starts when the youngster enters the facility and ends only when he or she leaves